Chapter 13
Will you take my side this time as well?
Though she did not say the words aloud, Adriana silently asked them as she looked into his eyes.
And then—
“This is not something I need to interfere with.”
After saying that, Dietrich personally closed the bedroom door.
What?
Could it be that he had actually taken her side?
The question lasted only a moment.
Because Teresa was still standing right in front of her.
Thinking about it carefully, it was only natural.
Teresa was just as troublesome to Dietrich as she was to Adriana. The enemy of his enemy was an ally, and if Adriana killed Teresa in a fit of anger, the one who would benefit the most would be Dietrich himself.
If the seductive nuisance whom he could not kill because of complicated legal matters and the last remnants of filial loyalty toward his father were to die, then all authority would return to Dietrich. And he himself would avoid blame entirely.
So, in other words—
“It seems the lord has given his permission.”
Adriana pushed the tip of her sword another handspan closer to Teresa.
Perhaps if Dietrich had not opened the door midway through, Adriana might not have actually harmed Teresa.
But this was an opportunity to properly remind everyone watching outside of the true hierarchy.
Adriana no longer wished to interfere in the affairs of Hielo, but that did not mean she intended to be looked down upon by someone as lowly as Teresa.
And Dietrich was conveniently standing outside. He would stop Teresa from calling others in, so there was nothing for Adriana to fear.
Teresa’s complexion stiffened as she stared at the blade hovering before her eyes.
Startled, Teresa dropped the pipe she had been holding.
“No matter how great a noble’s daughter you are, if you stab someone like me—the true mistress of Glück Castle—you will not escape punishment. If you so much as lay a finger on me…”
“It would become a declaration of territorial war between Trakia and Hielo.”
“And you know that, yet you still dare—”
If Adriana killed the true power behind Hielo, it would signal the beginning of war.
Adriana hated war more than anyone, and until now she had endured Teresa’s provocations precisely because she wished to avoid it.
But things were different now.
After already experiencing rebellion and watching people die in her previous life, there was little left for her to fear.
“You misunderstand something. I dislike war. That does not mean I am incapable of it.”
War was Adriana’s specialty.
It was also a far simpler solution than divorce.
Teresa finally realized Adriana was serious and bit down nervously on her lip.
“S-Stop this.”
Just as Teresa searched for an opportunity to flee—
Adriana caught the acrid smell of smoke and frowned.
The pipe Teresa had dropped had ignited the bedsheets. It was not a particularly large fire.
The problem was Adriana’s memories.
The moment she smelled something burning, she remembered her final moments in this very bedroom, engulfed in flames.
A violent dizziness washed over her.
And in that instant, Adriana dropped her sword.
The sword clattered to the floor as Adriana collapsed to her knees.
Seeing that, a strange light flickered in Teresa’s eyes.
“You… are afraid of fire?”
Teresa asked the question, but Adriana could not hear her. A loud ringing echoed through her head.
“Hm.”
Teresa glanced at the pipe, then pulled out a magic stone used for ignition from her pocket and tossed it toward the weak flames.
The fire that should have died out quickly suddenly roared upward.
Adriana covered her mouth with one hand and froze in place.
“So now you have one more thing you fear?”
Teresa stepped right up to Adriana and peered into her trembling eyes before bursting into shrill laughter.
“You acted so proud, yet in the end you are just another terrified human being. How pathetic.”
As the flames began spreading beyond the bed, Teresa laughingly opened the bedroom door.
The moment the doors opened, the noisy murmuring outside flooded into the room.
In the short time since the commotion began, even more spectators had gathered, and the voices grew louder and louder.
To Adriana, those voices sounded exactly like the cries of the territory’s people surging into the burning Glück Castle carrying torches in her previous life.
The thought that they might all rush toward her made her freeze where she stood.
“Fire! The Grand Duchess’s bedroom is on fire!”
“Hurry and bring extinguishing magic stones!”
The servants quickly ran through the corridors carrying magic stones used to put out fires.
The flames had not yet spread through the entire room, but everyone moved swiftly.
Fires were common in the North because of the dry climate. Everyone knew how quickly even a small flame could grow, so the castle had extensive fire prevention measures everywhere.
And yet Adriana had burned to death in a place like this.
As Teresa slipped past amid the commotion, Dietrich said something.
But to Adriana, every sound around her had become nothing more than dull ringing noise.
Then suddenly, as she flinched, a familiar voice reached her ears.
“My lady? What happened here…?”
Izan rushed in, and the moment he saw Teresa and the burned bedsheets from the pipe, his expression hardened.
“My lady, forgive my rudeness.”
He immediately recognized Adriana’s unstable state and swiftly covered both her ears with his hands.
Adriana slowly opened the eyes she had squeezed shut and looked directly at the person standing before her.
Seeing the knight who had protected her until his final moment within the flames of her previous life, the tension left her body, and she nearly collapsed.
“Ah… Izan, it was you.”
“My lady. Please wear this.”
Izan picked up the shawl lying beside Adriana and gently draped it around her shoulders.
“…Thank you, Izan.”
The coral silk shawl possessed weak resistance against flames.
The moment the shawl—almost like armor—rested upon her shoulders, Adriana gradually regained her senses.
Just as she steadied herself and prepared to stand—
Thud. Thud.
Dietrich approached and stepped directly between Adriana and Izan.
“Everyone leave.”
The servants who had crowded in to extinguish the fire sensed the dangerous atmosphere and hurriedly left the bedroom one by one with wide eyes.
But one person remained.
Only Izan stayed where he stood, glaring fiercely.
“Did you not hear my order for everyone to leave?”
“Her Grace the Grand Duchess is deeply shaken. Please step away and allow her to rest.”
“A mere knight does not know his place. To begin with, why was a knight entering the Grand Duchess’s bedroom?”
“I came to care for Her Grace’s sword. That has been my duty for a very long time.”
Having finally escaped the chaos of her memories, Adriana found herself plunged into an entirely different kind of confusion.
She genuinely could not understand why the two men were glaring at each other as though they wished to kill one another.
“Um…”
“Her Grace is uncomfortable. Please put her down now.”
“So you are a dog who cannot even recognize its master despite belonging to the Glück Knights. Perhaps you need to relearn how to obey your lord.”
Neither man gave Adriana even a chance to speak as they continued arguing.
“Yes. The Grand Duchess certainly appears to require rest.”
Suddenly, Dietrich bent down and lifted Adriana into his arms.
“W-What are you doing?”
Adriana stammered at the sudden closeness of his face.
She had almost never been this physically close to her husband before.
“I am taking you somewhere you can rest.”
Dietrich’s eyes remained fixed on Izan.
“The Grand Duchess will stay in my chambers until her bedroom has been restored.”
“What are you talking about?”
As Dietrich tried to leave the room carrying Adriana, Izan immediately stepped in front of him.
“Do you have some complaint about me staying with my wife?”
Dietrich tightened his arms around Adriana even more.
“Both of you, stop it!”
Unable to endure it any longer, Adriana finally shouted.
Dietrich and Izan both fell silent, though neither relaxed the hostility in their eyes.
“I have something to discuss regarding Teresa, so come with me for now.”
Dietrich lowered his voice and murmured quietly beside Adriana’s ear.
Adriana looked around the damaged room.
The fire had not grown enormous, but the feathers stuffed inside the mattress had burned through, leaving a massive hole, and the smell of smoke filled the chamber.
Northern castles had tiny windows because of the cold, making ventilation difficult. It was true that she would need to leave the room temporarily while the bed was replaced and the smoke cleared.
And it was also true that what had just happened needed to be discussed.
“…Alright.”
“Let us go.”
The moment Adriana reluctantly agreed, Dietrich immediately carried her out of the bedroom as though he had been waiting for permission.
Izan hurriedly moved to block the doorway, but Adriana quietly shook her head.
‘It is alright. You do not need to follow.’
She hoped he understood the words she silently conveyed.
Izan would oppose even Dietrich himself if it was for Adriana’s sake. Regardless of how much Adriana hated Dietrich, he was still Izan’s lord.
She did not want Izan to earn the hatred of someone who possessed the authority to punish him.
If she wanted to safely send the southern knights back home someday, they needed to avoid drawing attention as much as possible.
To reassure him, Adriana offered Izan a calm smile.
The moment Dietrich saw that smile, the tendons in his neck tightened visibly.
